How Soccer Got Its Name

Football is a name used by a variety of sports where kicking a ball is involved. It originated in England, and variations of it are known throughout the world, including Australian Football and American Football. But in the U.S. and Canada, football is known as soccer. So how did soccer get its name? You might suspect that it comes from the word “sock” which is the piece of clothing worn on your foot. But you’re wrong! Before football existed, there was rugby. The Football we know nowadays was created as a less physical alternative to rugby football. In the early days, in order to distinguish itself from Rugby Football, it was called Association Football. Association was abbreviated to Assoc. and later called Soccer. And so soccer is used to differentiate it from other varieties of football associations or leagues that may exist in other countries, like the National Football League in the US or the Canadian Football League.